Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Munster, Indiana USA

Despite the symbolism of silent nights and spiritual reverence, the modern Christmas holiday is absolutely a season of excess. Left-leaning celebrators have long opined on the holiday’s sell out to ravenous capitalism, but the problem of excess extends beyond that. The culture of Christmas has gone beyond the pale of Germanic tradition into something characterized by bright colored lights, mythical creatures and a litany of songs. Awesome. But the greatest excess, the grandest excess, and the unhealthiest excess is the culinary Christmas. Throwing away diets at the behest of a holiday, we justify a month long gorging with a living-life-to-its-fullest mentality, for fear that if we don’t indulge in one more glass of egg-nog or one more square of fudge than that year’s Christmas celebration will be tainted and irreversibly marked as the worst Christmas ever. I’m all for the feast, even if my body isn’t, but I never expected to see this unchecked Yuletide hunger extend to from food to beer. I mean, Dr. Seuss found curious dopplegangers for the roast beef (roast beast) and the year’s hot new toy (the Ting-tingler, duh) but there was never a beer in the table for the Who’s of Whoville. We may blame this on the book’s target audience of whom beer was still an inaccessible drink, but I believe it is because there is no equivalent culture of excess for Christmas seasonal beers. The brews that do line up on the seasonal shelf are probably had sparingly, compared to the Christmas roast-ham, all five pounds weighing each sleepy eater all the way to bed at every supper. Mind you, Christmas is a holiday where consumption may be uncontrollable, but quality is neither sacrificed nor suppressed. That’s why the Alpha Klaus is a prime candidate to plant the seed for a new Christmas tradition. I’ll admit I don’t know whether the Alpha Klaus is actually released near Christmas or not, but I’ll defend its place as a Christmas beer here, in the hopes that Americans may find a way to glut themselves on a seasonal brew alongside their fruit logs and gift certificates from Sharper Image. The Alpha Klaus is a nice, warm brown, the color of oxidized apple flesh, with head piled to the brim with tiny, shiny bubbles that mimic brown pearls. A few minutes after my pour the mushrooming head settled down and began to quake, eventually flopping over into a plateau shape. I never knew a beer could be so animated. However, the Alpha Klaus doesn’t touch on its rich, tappable decadence until the aroma has a chance to punch through the bubbly bulwark, immediately mesmerizing the nose with the aroma of apples and hickory smoke. I begin to feel like I’m at a cider house, when some equally cold-repellant aromas drift into my nostrils: barbeque, raisin, sparkling cider, hearty glazed carrots and katsudon sauce. All are perfectly blended to create a warm, low, slow, sweet amalgam with the sophistry of European cuisine and enough sugary charm to placate a child. The taste inherits the finer points of the aroma. A simple sip opens with an escalating sweetness, beginning with a natural apple flavor and dark chocolate, with the competing tangy bitterness and cocoa bitterness playing a beautiful duet on the tongue. Whipped cream follows quickly, settling the heated competition, and then sassafras enters the fray to offer a second round of root beer oriented sweetness. After this first wave of flavors settles down into a quieter self-discussion on the palate, a quenching, slightly sweet slightly bitter iced tea flavor makes a small appearance, followed by marshmallow. For a winter-time beer it’s not heavy, or cumbersome. The mouth feel is clear and lucid, easy to manipulate in the mouth and easier to swallow – almost fluffy. Three Floyds Alpha Klaus is a beer that begs to be had when the drinker is already comfortable, far from the elements and securely blanketed in at least three layers of soft cloth and placed within a two meter radius of a roaring fireplace. The dynamics of the taste are somewhat uninteresting, but the flavors that are there are immeasurable delicious and harmonious. If there is a beer to spearhead the campaign for a beer to go with that pile of sweets, then this is a prime candidate. Even if it doesn’t succeed, I know that this will be a bottle that I myself will pursue with the same feral persistence that many shoppers walk into stores with come that time of year, when joy, jubilation and the fiercest of rivalries flare up across the country.

Dark brown beer with a creamy brown head. Fairly earthy, leafy hop aroma, some nice chewy, herbal hop character on the nose. Flavour is lovely, soft cocoa and bitter chocolate, some nice sweet chewy maltiness. Strong chocolate and toast. Soft bitterness and great herbal hop flavour.

Bottle: Pours a dark brown with a large tanned head and thick lacing. Nose is a blend of coffee, cocoa, roasted malt, and hints of bitters. More hops than I expected, but it balanced well with the bittersweet cocoa taste, coffee, and roasted malt. A more distinctive taste for a porter than those of late. I guess that’s what the label promised and that’s what the brew delivered. Quite tasty.

Pours brown with an inescapable huge dark tan head. Smells of chocolate, roasted malt and caramel with some sugary hints. Tastes of chocolate, cherries, tangy malt and some pepper. Mouthfeel is full with a nice tangy finish. Very enjoyable.

A great tasting porter on draught! Beautiful black murky thick body. Excellent light brown head which is mostly lasting. Bitter-light flavour to start with, nice creamy lively roasted chocolate malt and then a good long finish with chocolate and that warm feeling from the alc. (hadn’t eaten before I tasted it).

Pours a dark black with a light brown head. Nice dark malts and chocolate mixed with hops. Blends really well together. Pretty big, bold taste up front. A lot of burnt coffee grounds and mocha caramel, followed by creamy chocolate. The hop taste is more in the background to give it an interesting twist. Finishes somewhat bitter with a big coffee aftertaste. Really pleasant.

On tap at Map Room, Chicago. Almost black with minimal head. Not as hoppy as I remember last year. Hint of roast in the aftertaste. Definitely one of the more flavorful and complex porters. A nice treat this time of year.

Bomber. Knowing FFF from their Black Sun Stout, I expected quite a bit of hops in this one. Well, I wasn’t disappointed...first I was welcomed by a large dose of pine and grapefruit. Fortunately, that wasn’t all, as chocolate and coffee tones came through afterward and dominated after opening. This Bad Santa poured dark black with huge billowing tan head. A beautiful sight for sure. The taste was slightly less than I was hoping for...the tastes of the roasted malts were a little subdued, though certainly there. The finish was a nice combination of bitter hops and coffee. I’ll have to go back to PA near Christmas to score another bottle of this.